Follow an artist who creates lampwork beads, pure silver and artisan jewelry. You can grow along with me and ask lots of questions. I will show you my work and talk about my artistic journey and my love of the art. Marketing handmade jewelry and findings will be an important topic. I will give you tips and tricks I have learned along the way. I am also into social networking, Twitter, Facebook, Plurk etc. So expect plenty of tips on how to use these tools to make your business grow.

Monday, November 09, 2009

Visiting Jenco13 is a sure way to feel a serious need for something warm. Multi-colored shawls, scarves (with pockets!), cup cozies, cuddly baby blankets and more fill this Etsy store.

Jen freely admits that most of her items narrowly miss being kept. " I love each item I make and sometimes find them very hare to part with! I spend anywhere betweet 6-8 hours on a scarf to make sure my stitches are even and consistent. If its not up to my standards, I rip out the stitches until I'm satisfied. I only sell things that I would use myself. When I'm done making things, my husband, Joe, normally has to remind me I already have a million scarves and cup cozies of my own!"

Jen credits her mom, a graphic designer and artist herself, with inspiring her. "She is amazing with colors! We try to get together at least once every 6 months to do an art day for the girls."

Husband Joe is also supportive. "He is an amazing supporter of my art work and never says to me, "You're crocheting again?" He helps me pick out what my next projects are going to be."

Jen ships her work internationally and is happy to do custom items. "I love to take custom orders from people when they see something new that I have not thought about making before."

As head of the Etsy Twitter Team's PR Committee, Jen is an avid user of Twitter and has a few tricks of the trade to share.

"Each month I go on to friendorfollow.com to see who has been following me, who are my friends, and who is not following me. I first figure out who is no longer using their accounts and get rid of those friends, so that I have room to add those who are following me. I only spend about 30 minutes or so, because you can really get caught up doing things on Twitter!"

She also makes it a point to respond. "I ALWAYS respond to those who RT my information, recommend me for #followfridays or DM me. I feel its important to make those connections on twitter."

Jen credits persistance and determination for helping her get her store going. " I am the little engine that could! I never give up on things. When times are tough, I stick to my goal and keep on trucking."

Jenco13 is offering a two deals this week:

CUP COZIES ARE BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!SCARVES ARE BUY ONE GET ONE 1/2 PRICED!USE THE COUPON CODE -ETTROCKS!